Industrial Engineers in South Carolina
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,626
after federal, FICA and South Carolina tax
Tax takes
$25,434
25.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$81,164
South Carolina costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in South Carolina — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$101,060
Kept after tax
$75,626
Worth in national money
$81,164
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. South Carolina pays industrial engineers around $101,060 at the midpoint, 30 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations South Carolina reports, industrial engineers comes in at 50 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- South Carolina is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $101,060 the take-home is $75,626; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $81,164 would nationally. The average comes to $104,740, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For industrial engineers the South Carolina median is $101,060, ranking 30 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Industrial engineers ranks 50 of 492 occupations by median in South Carolina, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for industrial engineers in South Carolina, on $101,060, is $75,626 — equivalent to $81,164 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $104,740 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Industrial Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $75,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $136,720 |
| This salary | $101,060 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in South Carolina | $75,626 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,926 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,085 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $94,949 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,499 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 93 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in South Carolina earn less than $101,060. The published range is $75,000 up to $136,720, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In South Carolina the take-home figure of $75,626, from $101,060, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 50 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $81,164 uses one figure for the whole of South Carolina. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 50.
- Reported values are medians; for industrial engineers in South Carolina the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $75,000 to $136,720. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for South Carolina is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $75,626 from $101,060. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 50 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $81,164, worked from $101,060, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular South Carolina address, on work sitting at 50 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $104,740, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $75,000 and the top tenth $136,720, so most people doing this work in South Carolina sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $81,164.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and South Carolina adds its own income tax on top — which is why $75,626 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in South Carolina is $104,740. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($75,000 to $136,720) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to South Carolina rather than a national figure.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
South Carolina's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $81,164 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $75,626 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and South Carolina income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.